This is a quietly powerful, and intensely beautiful, record whose contemplations will bed themselves in your mind and hopefully move you towards caring about the issues raised as deeply as she clearly does.

A record that marks a wholly welcome return to form.

Silver Eye is undoubtedly a masterfully crafted, emotionally rich and enjoyable record.

All in, this is a strong if straightforward album packed with effective if safe earworms, albeit from someone whose very name suggests twists and turns.

It’s credit to her that within the congested realm of electronic music her record stands proudly distinct, as it is both danceable and meditative music with genuine heart. And with that Kelly Lee Owens has made a more than promising debut.

Locus, then, is an intriguing beast, one that enjoys experimentation but doesn’t forget to please its listener through driving rhythms, colourful sonics and powerful musical statements that might be derivative but are a sharp blow to the consciousness, especially if heard loud on headphones.

Jawbone certainly has an interesting sonic palette, but like most soundtracks it really needs the accompanying moving images to make it complete.

Last Place is anachronistically introverted, and its tech references don’t quite make sense in the context of 2017. If it’s understood as a more human album then it works, but it is held back a little by the vestiges of the earlier, broken down and burnt out, Grandaddy.

nge. Lesser bands may have gone off the rails, but Courtney and company have responded by making the best album of their career to date.

Whilst obviously not the best album of all-time, Different Creatures adds considerable weight to the band’s growing ambitions.

As musically un-diverse as it may be, how cynical and jaded you would have to be to take against it. Tennis’ music is not intended to push at vanguards, but to make you happy.

The evolution and maturation of The Shins might continue at its steady pace with this record, but it’s all the better for the sense of nostalgia that pervades it, seeping from both its music and its lyrics.

while Silent Movie felt like a minor departure, this record still manages to sound deeply connected to its predecessors.

Crystal Fairy is a solid and impressive album from start to finish.

Temples’ piercing synths certainly perplex and distract but probably not in the way they intended. Any emotional or meaningful messages that may be in these songs are completely lost. Some lovely moments do manage to fight their way through.

Whether All Them Witches’ fans will approve in droves is unlikely, but instead of burying their heads in the sand maybe they should embrace the bands continuing evolution because at times it’s simply spellbinding.

Even at this early stage of the year, it’s fair to say that Power Trip might just have written one of this year’s most exciting and important albums.

Gang Signs & Prayer does a brilliant job of introducing the world to the full scope of his talent, dismissing any notion of him being a one-trick pony.

It just so happens that it is also an album that you pop on repeat and happily dance around like a wide eyed loon to for as long as needed. Self-realisation, invocations and exploration of the psyche are not necessary, but then as the album progresses the need to move (even if it’s just an appreciative nod of the head) is impossible to ignore.

Williamson has never been mournful in quite the same way that he is here, nor so disappointed in what he sees around him, whether it’s politicians, musicians or just ordinary people. This comes through not only in the lyrics but in their delivery.

For now, it’s a worthy instalment in the Moon Duo canon and a fine record on its own terms.

World Eater thrives on the tension between anxiety and peace, nihilism and love. That’s tough stuff to reconcile, but Power attempts it in muscular yet heartfelt fashion. This is an album that will shake you senseless, eat you up and spit you out. And it’s worth every minute.

While long-term fans will lap up the album, there’s still not really that killer commercial breakthrough which will see them following the likes of Foals into bigger arenas. However, as another reassuringly consistent entry in the Dutch Uncles canon, this will do nicely.

Thundercat has, by skirting around the edges of darkness, created a moody, magnificent, endlessly replayable record that also makes sense in late February.

Few bands are able to translate the full spectrum of emotions into song as well as the Welsh outfit and now they have established their independence, hopefully Sick Scenes will represent the beginning of an exciting new chapter in their career.

Dirty Projectors may be a breakup record, and one with its fair share of petty sniping (Keep Your Name’s pointed “What I want from art is truth, what you want is fame” is fairly hard to swallow without the suggestions elsewhere that Longstreth is playing characters) but, cathartic and redemptive, it’s one worth getting to know.

There is nothing on this record that is going to convert the previously disinterested. But although Ounsworth is still yet to return to the high watermark of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s first record, he has produced his most affecting work since then.

Their last studio record saw them in upbeat, energetic form, and whilst that playfulness is still present at times on Elwan, there is a conscious grounding too this time around.

Grails have been many things over the last 15 years, but with Chalice Hymnal, they seem to have found an identity that fits them perfectly.

Impermanence might have started out as a personal project, and it is an economical record consisting of six minimalist tracks, but self and city both run through it, giving a great sense of scale and scope.

Essentially this is an album packed with genuine nuggets of pop gold.

The album doesn’t take The Orwells to another musical level but, produced by Jim Abbiss (who worked with them previously), it makes for fun listening.

Prisoner is an album that must have been tough for Adams to write and record, but ends up sounding like one of the great break-up albums of recent times.

A collection of songs that successfully articulates Khouri’s musical identity.

Like the film it accompanies though, the prevailing sense is that it will be remembered principally as a top-notch tribute to its timeless progenitor; first class entertainment but without those inimitable zeitgeist qualities that made the original Trainspotting so uniquely compelling.

It’s an island of emotion on an album that overall sounds curiously unaffected by the tumultuous events of the last few years.

Like any prospective chartbuster, it frontloads its biggest bangers and lets anything more interesting linger in the later stages of the record, when the more passive listeners have tuned out. But those forays are occasional at best, and as an artistic statement this debut album is somewhat limited.

It has the feel of a transitional record; having proved to himself that it’s possible to pair up heartfelt songs with sometimes incongruous music, perhaps Lekman will hone this concept further in his future work.

It’s a comforting record, but one you wish was a little more abrupt in places. Even so, it’s a hugely graceful collection played out with dignity.

Admittedly there are sometimes a few too many overwrought guitar solos--moments where Eitzel and Butler may have been better off toning things down--but overall this is a surprising new partnership that works very well indeed.

This is an urgent, enormously enjoyable LP.

Going by the quality of Tourist In This Town, there’ll be an awful lot more people loving Allison Crutchfield pretty soon.

While it seems silly to complain about the lack of a singer on an instrumental album, she did lend many of the songs an emotional weight which, while not lacking here, doesn’t quite have the same impact.

With Garden Of Ashes he secures his position as not just a musician’s musician, but one who looks set to grow a wider following.

SweetSexySavage, despite its gung-ho title, turns out to be a fine album, albeit a couple of songs too long.

For now, Elbow have created another record that comfortably matches up to anything they’ve released to date.

There are so many ideas, grooves and interesting deviations on Pas Pire Pop that it is impossible not to be drawn in by it. Rather than being overwhelming, it’s a record that stuns with its hypnotic and jubilant rhythms.

Despite a few too many lacklustre and inconsequential tracks, there are some incredible highs here and songs that will sound phenomenal when played live.

Sacred Paws strike a match by igniting the themes and musicality of their record, and the result is hugely satisfying. There is something ballsy and defiant in the simplicity of the duo’s approach and directness.

It’s possibly not the massively successful step forward that it probably thinks it is, but there’s enough promise shining through to make Menace Beach well worth keeping an eye on.

Yesterday’s Gone is one of the finest debuts you’ll hear for quite some time.

Comfortably impressive, it’s difficult to see how Near To The Wild Heart Of Life will leave the turntable once it gets spinning. Despite being less striking than its predecessor, it’s another great Japandroids album.

Feed The Rats is everything you could hope for from Pigsx7. It’s heavy, stoned, accessible and transformative.

As its title implies, Return To Ommadawn is nothing new of course, but it is a happy reunion that will please Oldfield’s fans greatly. It may not necessarily introduce him to a new audience, but it leads those in the know to a familiar place they know well.

The two records are essentially similar in their mood and effect, and the snag with this album is that it follows the formula set by its predecessor uncomfortably closely.

It’s tough to spot much progress on Foxhole when compared to Wooden Head. In fact, it’s more devolution than evolution but the simple sparseness works well in moderation for some well penned songs.

They may not turn out to be a Lee & Nancy for the 21st century, but Gentlewoman, Ruby Man is a massively enjoyable listen and is hopefully only the prelude to more work between the pair.

Elinor Dougall has obviously taken her time to get this album sounding just as she wants – Strange Warnings and Poison Ivy first appeared on 2013’s Future Vanishes EP – and, on the majority of these cuts, that time has been unquestionably well spent. It doesn’t all work. ... Stellular finishes strong, however.

Future Politics is another impressive step in the evolution of Austra: while the band’s second album was a move towards shiny, commercial pop, the follow up sees a more sparse, fragile collection of songs.

Overall, Migration represents another step forward in Bonobo’s musical development, keeping what was already strong in his music but adding more colour and depth.

It’s possible that Oczy Mlody will disappoint those looking for an easy hit, or the sound of old-school Lips, but for those willing to persist and explore, it’s a work of nuance and intelligence.

The xx have taken in all the experiences and lessons they have learned since their breakthrough and come up with their most adventurous and quietly uplifting release to date. It’s so good, it may even banish those January blues.

It’s maybe not something to play every day, but an ideal companion piece for when you’re feeling more contemplative than usual.

Whilst this emotional look back [fourth track Sandlot] might suggest they’ve got one foot in the grave, there’s plenty of fight left yet. In the past, this would have taken the form of furious punk, but this time around the Dropkicks have expanded their sound out into something far grander than anything they’ve attempted before.

This is an album that incorporates a cornucopia of musical styles and weaves them together perfectly to create a cohesive and quite elegant whole.

Alabama 3 are at their best when they let go, embrace the fact that they’ve successfully sustained their eclectic sound and bizarre personas for over 20 years, and lose themselves to their own warped version of the blues.

For all its heavy themes, Forward Constant Motion is an exciting, energetic, surprisingly accessible listen.

Fifteen or so albums in, Bamboo Diner In The Rain is not much more, but crucially nothing less, than another reliably solid album from one of our most consistent acts. A resounding success, then.

There is nothing here that is dramatically different to what he offered on his debut solo album, but the end result is charming and beautifully comforting nonetheless.

Overall Gibb has invited us on an entertaining jaunt through the musical traditions of rural Canada.

For the loyal fans, this is what they come back for. For the more casual Sleigh Bells listener, this may prove one full-length album too many.

There are some infectious grooves here and there but they don’t crackle and snap the way they once did.

There’s plenty of returning to old ground, but this is not a derivative record, and neither is it a return to form. It finds Metallica rediscovering what makes them tick.

Whether stark and menacing, grief-laden or simply plain daft, Lodestar is a triumph of storytelling and sound.

The experimental edge that Wainwright has introduced with this album bodes well for the future--while she may not be writing operas like her brother, she remains one of the most intriguing, honest songwriters around today.

This is a record that has finally seen the light of day after a bitter dispute between the band and their label. That something so beautiful and politically charged can emerge from the embers of conflict can only be a positive thing.

The ultimate result of that process remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it has left us with a beautifully rendered, intimately personal collection of very fine songs indeed.

It feels like the most human of his late works, with acoustic instrumentation carefully balanced alongside drum programming and vintage keyboards.

It’s an album that wanders a lot, but every now and again can hold you spellbound, much like Hersh has been doing her entire career.

The less is more production suits her, and for a first time we get a real and lasting glimpse of Stefani herself.

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete offer a heady mixture of psychedelia and grooves that, over time, becomes completely compelling.

There’s something monumental about it. Something of Swans in the way they harness the brutality of instruments played at the edge of breaking point. The same apocalyptic destination. There’s also a similar use of repetition, looping sections over and over with bulldozing impact.

So, all things considered, it’s another solid entry in McClure’s catalogue.

As usual the lyrics feel like they were written when stoned, but the music still shows creative engagement.

Beautifully produced it may be, but Two Vines is essentially an over polished collection of songs with less spontaneity in their composition.

How they pack so much emotion and feel into so little is nothing short of magical. Their previous bands might have dazzled with sheen and noise, but Until The Hunter impresses with the bare minimum from start to finish.

This album sounds brighter than its predecessor, more refined, sharply focused and coherent.

FLOTUS is most successful when it marries the influences from hip-hop productions with the pop-rock template that has essentially underpinned most of Lambchop’s previous work.

There’s nothing on Alone that could stand shoulder by shoulder to the band’s genuine classics, but perhaps there doesn’t need to be. At 65, Hynde has proved all she has to, and at this stage, it’s enough to hear that marvellous voice sneering its way through some new songs.

Beautiful, sad, uplifting, and thoughtful, American Football’s return is definitely something to get excited about, but in a subdued way.

It’s the sound of a band dabbling in other areas whilst still maintaining something of their roots, and as long as they don’t stray too far from the path that they have clearly mastered then they’re a band worth sticking with as they make their sonic explorations.

Some earlier fans of Obel may miss the more minimal sound of her early albums, and there’s certainly no big crossover track that will propel Obel to the mainstream. This is a haunting listen though, and one that will provide suitable company as the long winter nights start to draw in.

Aforger is one of 2016’s most impressive albums and will most likely be seen as key in years to come when looking at Douglas Dare’s development as an artist.

It’s utterly bonkers, but there’s so much raw talent there, once they’ve learnt to rein in their excesses The Lemon Twigs could go on to produce something truly special in the future.

It will obviously appeal to most long-term Keane fans (even without Rice-Oxley’s trademark tinkly piano chords) but anyone who’s gone through a bit of a tough time in their lives will find this to be comforting succour.

Three wears its scars where they’re visible, at times this makes for an uncomfortable and uneven listen, but when it clicks, they’re unstoppable.

More than any other record Wasser has produced, this one feels like it’s purposefully going for accessibility. This is not at the expense of creativity for the most part.

Not everything they attempt comes off--The End Is Beautiful is a harmless and cloying ballad and Through comes across as Jimmy Eat World by numbers--but for the most part Integrity Blues is an intriguing and varied entry into the band’s back catalogue.